Mending cracked plastic panel

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, What is best compound(glue, epoxy?) to use? TIA,

[Doug Miller]

Depends on the plastic. What are you trying to fix?

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Front skirt(aire dam) of a car which is attached to the bottom of bumper. Hit a snow bank and it caused a partial viertical crack.

[aemeijers]

BTDT, on a chunk of ice in a parking lot at about 2 mph.

If it is the same stuff the body-color bumper covers are made out of, forget it. Once the stuff UV and thermal cycles a few hundred times, it is unrepairable. If your budget won't stand replacing it right now, splint it with aluminum sheet behind it, and pop-rivet the splint in place with big washers on the front. Spray the repair the appropriate color with the flexible bumper paint. Keep the car dirty, and people won't even notice. :^)

aem sends...

[Doug Miller]

3M Structural Adhesive, p/n 08101, about $22 at auto parts stores, and a piece of fiberglass auto body repair cloth. The adhesive is a two-part mix, similar to epoxy. Slather the stuff on to the back side of the cracked piece. Then slather some more on to the fiberglass cloth. Embed the cloth in the layer of adhesive. Then slather more adhesive on top of the cloth.

[do_not_spam_me]

What kind of plastic? More than one type is used for car bumpers and air dams. Xylene (polycarbonate/polybutylene blend) is common for hard bumpers, but a separate dam attached to the bumper may be high- density polyethylene, fiberglass, or sheet urethane (Saturn body material).

Try contacting 3M Automotive.

[Red Green]

Tony Hwang wrote in news:RT_Bj.77112$w94.53329 @pd7urf2no:

Not sure about what kind of plastic or if it's possible for you case but I've made plastic repairs with PVC cement used for plumbing plastic pipe. It melts plastics [err, especially PVC:-) ] causing it to fuse. Work fast though!